Squad news

REVIEW SEASON 2014/15: THE COACHES

03 Jun 2015Fernando Vázquez was fired just when the pre-season was about to start. His replacement, Víctor Fernández, was unpopular with the fans and Víctor Sánchez saved the team despite only winning once.

Stormy and accidental season for Deportivo regarding the coaches. There were three coaches since July and the first two were fired in very delicate moments for the club. Fernando Vázquez was going to direct the team after a meritorious promotion, but a poor relation with the board of directors, with the trigger of his declarations during a public act with a peña in which he criticized the moves in the market, caused his exit just a few days before starting the pre-season and before traveling to Colombia for a tour with the LFP (July 8).

The chosen one to replace El Profesor was Víctor Fernández, a veteran coach with a lot of experience that found a new situation for him: to train a team that was needing ten or more signings. He lasted in the job 30 matchdays plus two meetings for Copa Del Rey, always under the critic view from the fans, the team felt into a hole and the board of directors decided to move after a 1-1 draw hosting Córdoba CF (April 8).

Then Víctor Sánchez Del Amo, a former player of Deportivo’s golden era, arrived in order to face the last eight games and with the team at the edge of relegation. And the Madrilenian fulfilled the goal despite only winning one of those eight matches. The following is an analysis of the two coaches that directed the team during the regular reason.

Víctor Fernández –Unpopular-. This veteran coach showed many flaws during his stage in A Coruña, but it’s also true that there were two factors out of his reach that affected his image. The first is that, despite making the full pre-season with the first team, he arrived too late, only a few days before the squad started to train and with an inopportune South American tour in the middle, so the real work started until the team returned to Galicia and only one month before the debut in liga; therefore it wasn’t strange that his team lasted in showing the characteristics that the coach wanted. The other factor was that he was unpopular among the fans, the shoes of a loved man like Fernando Vázquez were never filled and Víctor paid the price receiving hard criticism at all times.

The Aragonian man was always understood to be a coach that likes to perform with offensive formations, mainly 4-4-2 schemes, but at Depor he only used three times a draw with two strikers, it was for the first round games against Real Sociedad, Atlético Madrid and Málaga CF. One of the main things criticized to him is that the changes made during the meetings never worked out or helped to change the outcome, a fact that’s clear with the stat that, with him on board, only twice Depor managed to rescue a point after been down in the scoresheet (2-2 Vs. Rayo Vallecano and 2-2 Vs. Granada CF.)

Víctor’s main decision was to make a facelift after the big losses against Real Madrid (2-8) and Sevilla CF (1-4). And it’s that for the home clash against Valencia (matchday 08) he made six changes at the lineup, the team reacted and started to grow. By matchday 22 the team was already 11th, five points above the pit and, more importantly, it demonstrated that it was able to compete against anyone as it did in the following matchday visiting Real Madrid.

But that defeat at the Bernabéu only started a negative streak of eight straight games without winning. It was then that Fernández committed his biggest sin at Depor: to not do what he did against Valencia. And it’s that the coach never did anything to change the course; he simply continued training the same things, using the same players and therefore presenting the same lineups and even was making the same changes. The result was that the team never reacted and the board of directors lost the patience. A veteran coach that ran out of resources.
RCDLC.com rating: 6.0

Víctor Sánchez –Refreshing- It shouldn’t be strange that a former player that lived some of his best days in A Coruña didn’t think twice to launch his career as a first team coach in the same place where he succeeded, but it still was considered to be a risky move from the board of directors to did that in a delicate moment, with eight matches remaining and with the team at the edge of demotion.

The unexperienced Víctor only won one game, but brought some things that refreshed the team, especially the needed changes lacked by his predecessor. And it’s that in a short frame of time he tested several draws, from the scheme with two strikers to the 4-5-1 with four side defenders on the pitch. Perhaps the biggest tactical difference with Fernández is that the changes during the games finally were working out, just to remember that in 7 of the 8 games with Sánchez on board the team starting losing, and in 5 of those 7 matches the team was able to tie the game facing tough opponents: Real Sociedad, Málaga CF, Villarreal CF, Athletic Club and FC Barcelona. Just when Fernández only did it twice in the whole campaign.

Finally, the fact that Sánchez showed a more passive attitude on the press room, always talking but not saying too much about any subject. Something that should be appreciated taking in mind the hard times lived by the club and the need for prudence. This is another difference with Víctor Fernández and even with Fernando Vázquez, two more outspoken coaches that had problems with what they said.
RCDLC.com rating: 7.0